The present invention relates to the mounting of electronic components on circuit boards and for providing cooling for those electronic components.
In computer systems, it is known to mount electronic components such as microprocessors on a circuit board using ball grid arrays (BGA). In such arrangements, the electronic component is provided with a series of contact balls on an underside thereof. The contact balls engage with a series of corresponding springs in a socket, which is mounted on a circuit board, thereby to form electrical connections for the electronic component. To ensure that the electrical connections are stable, a force can be exerted on the electronic component to urge the electronic component towards the circuit board, thereby ensuring physical contact between the contact balls of the electronic component and the springs of the socket.
The amount of force with which it is desirable to urge the electronic component towards the circuit board for ensuring sufficient stability of the electrical connections can, in some applications, be relatively large. In some applications, a member is provided with a number of screw attachments for screwing into the circuit board. To urge the electronic component towards the circuit board, the screw attachments of the member are tightened and the member engages with the electronic component to provide the necessary force. As the forces involved can be relatively large this can lead to damage to the electronic component and/or the circuit board. Also, using a simple screw attachment mechanism as described above has the disadvantage that it is difficult to judge the forces which are actually being applied to the electronic component. Additionally, the sequential tightening of a plurality of screws can lead to uneven forces being applied to the electronic component during mounting. These factors can lead to damage of the electronic component.
Where the electronic component requires cooling a heatsink may be provided. An example of such a component would be a microprocessor. It is known to provide a heatsink for a microprocessor, which engages with a surface of the microprocessor for forming a thermal contact therewith. To ensure that a good thermal contact is made, the heatsink can be provided with a mechanism for urging the heatsink against the microprocessor. Again the necessary forces can be somewhat large and difficult to judge when mounting the heatsink on the microprocessor/circuit board.
The present invention aims to solve at least some of the problems outlined above.